


Finer Things

by Dusklatte



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Battle, Candy, F/M, It somehow came out a lot gentler than I was intending-, Jeritza spoilers I guess?, Just casual combat and kisses, Love Confessions, Mercedes just wants these two to be happy, Romance, S Support extension, Sex metaphors in the form of combat terminology-, Sexual Content, Shameless alteration between 'sweets' and 'candy';;;, Tame in the first chapter, explicit content in chapter 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2020-02-01
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:41:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21563152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dusklatte/pseuds/Dusklatte
Summary: The confessions which come forth when fighting against Those Who Slither in the Dark are surprising.
Relationships: Jeritza von Hrym & My Unit | Byleth, Jeritza von Hrym/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 2
Kudos: 171





	1. Indulgence

**Author's Note:**

> I got the Jeritza/Byleth S Support before... and I love it......;;;;;

Neither of them could care about the blood coating their skin or clothes as they spoke to one another. For that matter, their words would indicate that they were not in the throes of combat against the Agarthans, in the depths of Shambhala, but were instead somewhere much more peaceful.

As blood splattered across Jeritza’s clothing, he spoke in a hushed tone, wishing only for Byleth to hear his words. “This strange feeling rising up within me… Is this what is called… love?” His question followed up from his previous words, where he was describing the feelings he had with regard to both her and his desire to fight her.

Securing her grasp of her sword, one bearing the crest of Sei- of House Hresvelg, Byleth smiled and nodded. That was followed by her slashing at a warrior attempting to rush at her. “I feel the same way.” Additional red stains joined the others on Byleth’s dark outfit, the only evidence of their existence being on the occasional pink material or on her skin.

“That… pleases me.” Another enemy was removed, before there was a loud thud to their sides. “Let us away, then. Beyond these shadows that we have dwelt in for so long.” They had originally been back-to-back, but now they were shoulder-to-shoulder as a Titanus loomed over them, aiming to crush them under its weight. “To the very depths of hell, I will tumble down with you.”

No longer did the pair speak, as their focus was now on not being turned into a splatter against the floor, not to be thought of ever again. If Edelgard could see them now, she would be horrified that they had decided to take on the Agarthans and their machinations on their own, but rather unsurprisingly, they were handling themselves well.

As Byleth aimed to destroy the metallic armour which the Titanus used to protect itself, she heard Jeritza laugh quietly, before it turned loud and erratic. She knew that she was no longer fighting with Jeritza at that point, but instead was at the Death Knight’s side once his sword fell to the ground with a clatter, and his lance was pulled out.

Once the armour was out of the way, it was clear that the Titanus now had weaknesses. Byleth could see where the joints of the machine were attached, and sparking at every movement it made. A smirk came to her face, before she turned to Jeritza, who appeared to have noticed the same thing.

She jumped up some of the ruined architecture, before aiming at the sparking weak point. Jeritza did the same on the other side, using his lance to reach from the ground.

A loud whirring and clattering noise filled the body-filled streets of Shambhala, before the Titanus grew limp and inactive. Its arm-like appendages also fell down to the ground with a metallic thud.

In addition to that, the Titanus deactivating made Byleth’s footing unstable, as she had landed on top of it when attacking its joints. She began to fall, releasing her grasp of her sword as she braced herself for impact with the floor. It wouldn’t be like the time where she fell into the five year coma thanks to Sothis, and instead she would likely get grievously injured, or kill herself with the fall.

Yet she never landed on the floor.

Instead, Jeritza had managed to get between her and the ground, as he had decided that he needed to make sure that she didn’t hit the floor. After all, who could the Death Knight fight with if she were to get wounded here?

Adrenaline was coursing through Byleth’s body as she tried to catch her breath, it taking a few moments for her to realise that she was on top of Jeritza.

“Are you… unhurt?”

“I’m fine. Thank you for catching me.”

“Good...” Byleth then pulled herself up, and held out her hand to help Jeritza up from the ground. “It is… quiet now. Aside from us.”

Byleth nodded as she recovered her sword, and proceeded to sheathe it. “Yes… No doubt there will be others hiding somewhere, but for now it is… just us. This is not the place for us to fight though, we don’t know how long it will be before our next battle against the Agarthans. They will realise that many of their allies have fallen soon.”

“Indeed...” Jeritza then found his own sword, and moved his lance away from where they were stood to avoid the temptations of a fight.

Silently, Byleth went and leaned against a wall which was slightly tucked away, and in the process grabbed hold of a small satchel which had been placed there. “You mentioned before that you we can at one point enjoy the ‘finer things’… Perhaps these candies which Mercedes gave to me before we left could count as such whilst we rest up?”

Hearing his sister’s name made Jeritza fall still for a moment, before a very slight smile formed on his face as he made his way over to Byleth. “Perhaps one… for now.”

Byleth smiled as she held out the bag of sweets, and watched as Jeritza did not take one, as he had said, and instead took a handful. Unless by ‘one’ he meant ‘one handful’. He seemed quite satisfied as he quickly ate them, before realising that Byleth hadn’t even had one.

“Must you need me to make you eat?”

“No, I’m just happy seeing you enjoy yourself.”

“… That is...” Jeritza sighed, and didn’t eat the last candy in his hand. He then took hold of her chin, a frown on his face. “You have asked for this.” He then made her stand on her toes as he brought her chin up, and placed the sweet into her mouth.

Jeritza had never seen Byleth’s face so… red before. Then he remembered that he heard at one point that things such as feeding your loved ones in such a manner as he had done could be seen as… intimate.

“I- I told you that I was fine knowing that you were enjoying yourself...”

“But how could I enjoy myself if I knew that you were not partaking in my sister’s treats? Or as we have been saying, ‘enjoying the finer things’?”

“I’m- I don’t have as much of a sweet tooth as you...”

“Tastes can… change.” Suddenly, Byleth felt Jeritza take hold of her shoulder, whilst his other hand kept hold of her chin. She found herself pushed against the wall she had been leaning against as he looked down at her. “Not mine though. I always… delight in having something sweet to eat. It is a shame that you happen to be… sweeter than these candies.”

Byleth had been caught by surprise repeatedly over the past few minutes. First by how eager he had been to eat Mercedes’ candies. Second by him hand-feeding her one of said candies. Third by his lips capturing hers in the heat of the moment.

For that matter, the entire situation was a surprise. They were kissing – quite roughly at that – in the city where their enemies lived, where they had killed so many of their kind, surrounded by their corpses. Any normal person would call them insane. But neither of them fit the definition of ‘normal’.

When Jeritza finally moved away from Byleth’s lips, she could only laugh breathlessly in response. “I, ah… That was, uh...” She could see him staring straight into her eyes as she tried to find her words, so she diverted her gaze as best as she could. “Well, that could be a fight with you I would quite enjoy in the future...”

Then there was silence again. Aside from them both trying to catch their breaths, there was absolutely nothing.

“Still no Agarthans. Perhaps we are quite fortunate with this elongated silence...”

“Yes… Perhaps we could, hmm… resume our battle whilst we wait?”

“You are an insatiable woman. Perhaps that is fortunate for an insatiable man such as myself.”

They kissed again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~Coming up in chapter 2: shameless fucking near the corpses of their enemies.~~


	2. Far from over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle against the Agarthans comes to a close, but there are still matters to settle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has taken absolutely AGES for me to write as I've been ill for a short while now, but I finally got this finished!!!
> 
> Also, I did intend for the sex and stuff to be a bit 'rougher' but lmao it's just turned gentle and soft because Jeritza deserves better and to be happy-!!!

More enemies had emerged when they had parted. As such, they knew they would have to part to end their lives. However, the fighting this time was... difficult. It was not that the enemies were stronger though...

They were distracted. Byleth would constantly look back at Jeritza to see how he was faring. Jeritza would stare at Byleth for long periods of time, making sure that she was not injured to the point that they could not resume their... battle.

Fortunately, there had been no sign of a Titanus this time around, but that didn’t mean that they got away lightly. Many prominent figures from the Agarthans began to slither out of their hiding places, knowing that if they remained hidden, they would be found and killed like prey. Their magic would hurt, yes, but the darkness within it was something the pair had braced themselves for. Hubert had been particularly useful for that in their preparations.

Then finally, the last hurdle fell – Thales. The one Byleth despised bitterly, for his role in her father’s death, but withstood in her life so that she could finally have her opportunity for vengeance. This day could not have come sooner.

Seeing the relieved smile on Byleth’s face as she plunged her sword into his chest brought forth a strange feeling in Jeritza. His heart… fluttered. And his face grew warm… He even found himself _smiling_ as she pulled her sword out, blood dripping from its blade, before it fell to the ground with a clatter.

“It’s over… He was the last of them… It- It’s finally over…”

_But it wasn’t. No, things were far from over._

He could see her legs trembling slightly, so without hesitation, he approached her from behind and held his arm in front of her before she could fall down. “It is not over…” He pulled her away from the corpse, before he noticed that she was... crying. He hadn’t seen her cry before.

Ever.

“That is... unsightly,” he muttered, just as she pushed his arm away so that she could retrieve her sword. “Why?”

Despite the tears staining her face, she laughed quietly. “It’s relief,” she explained, before glancing back at Thales' body, somehow paler than it had been now that he was dead. “I have cried only twice in my life. The first time was when my father was murdered, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. The second time... because I've gotten my vengeance. They can’t take anything else away from me.”

Jeritza nodded along. He understood the desire for vengeance. For revenge. He'd gone through it before for his mother and sister's sake. And for some reason, he felt that he would do it over and over again for Byleth, if she ever felt the need for revenge in the future.

Then, Byleth approached him once more. “By the way... what did you mean by saying that this isn’t over?” Her eyebrow was raised, and the way that her lips pursed together was particularly amusing to him. _How could she not know?_

“We have unfinished business.”

Her proximity to him, and his height advantage allowed him the opportunity to take hold of her chin and make her stand on her toes as he pressed his lips against hers. Her eyes widened in shock, but quickly softened when she realised that by unfinished business, he meant the kisses they had shared earlier, and not the battle they had sworn to have since back when they both taught at the Officer’s Academy.

“Jeritza... is there anywhere that we can continue where, um...” Byleth pulled away after a good few seconds, before glancing around at the scattered bodies around them. “Where we aren’t surrounded by the dead?”

It seemed that Jeritza had an idea when she asked her question, as it took hardly any time for her wrist to be taken hold of, and pulled elsewhere. They eventually ended up in an alcove, not too far from where they had taken a break by eating some of the sweets which Mercedes had given to Byleth.

“Is this preferable?” he asked, before Byleth nodded. A slight smile formed on his face, before she found herself pressed up against a wall as he leaned in to her ear. “Good. Now move your hair.”

Byleth raised an eyebrow again, but did as he requested as best as she could by pulling her hair that was over her shoulder nearest to him to behind her back.

She didn’t expect to feel his lips now press against the top of her jaw. She intended to gasp through surprise, but it instead came out as a quiet whimper as her face grew red.

“Do not tell me... that all this time I have been seeking your weaknesses, and decided that you had none... I simply had to kiss you here? How... amusing.” Jeritza decided there and then that _this_ may actually be a battle he could win. Both he and the Death Knight knew that she could easily defeat them in combat, but _this..._ This changed everything.

“It’s n-not fun-ah!” Her voice went high pitched as he kissed her on the jaw again, followed by nibbling at her skin very slightly. Her face was redder than he had ever seen it before, and he relished the fact that he now had a way to overwhelm her, and that he was likely the _only_ person capable of utilising this weakness.

He gave off a quiet yet deep chuckle. Surprisingly, he was enjoying seeing her become so pliable to his will. The thrill of seeing her squirm and whimper at his actions... He loved it.

And... he loved her.

His thoughts were disturbed when he felt a warmth around his neck. He thought for a moment that he was being suffocated, until he realised that was far from the case. The feeling was far too gentle. Byleth had hooked one of her arms over his shoulders, and was... smiling at him. The next thing that he knew was that he could feel her fingers... so soft and gentle... they were stroking against his neck and combing through his hair, until finally, he felt the ribbon he used to keep it out of the way pulled loose.

“You okay?” Her question had been quiet and unexpected, and made him pull his head back slightly. Her arm remained around him as he took a minute to contemplate what she had said.

“I... I am. Yes.”

Byleth smiled again. And for what may have been one of the first times in ages... he found himself smiling back. The next thing that they knew, they were kissing once more. However, what started off as something gentle turned hasty. Gentleness was replaced by biting and nipping at each others’ lips, her hand tangling into his hair, and his hands moving to rest on her hips, fingers pressing down roughly in response to her actions.

Eventually, Byleth stopped them both by placing one of her fingers from her free hand against his lips. Their breathing was all that could be heard, until she stood on her toes and leaned in to his ear. “We’ve got far too much armour on for this. Lend me a hand?”

Jeritza almost felt stunned at how bluntly she phrased her request. But at the same time, he wasn’t. She wasn’t one of those people for being all fancy with their words, she just said what she thought. He liked that. And he didn’t mind obliging her, either.

There was one thing which he was not expecting as he removed her armour, and in turn, she assisted with his. That she was… softer than her equipment made her look. The skin of her arms, marred with scars both old and new, was so warm and comforting to touch. So were her legs, when he removed the plate which guarded her knee – made perhaps worse that she almost lost her balance as he helped her there, and in response, she may or may not have wrapped her legs around him. Then… Then he helped with her chestplate, and…

_She really was soft._

He almost found it hard to move his hands away, but decided that he wouldn’t when he heard her make that noise again. The one she had made when he kissed her jaw…

“It is never good to expose your weaknesses to an opponent… yet you seem to keep doing so.”

“Maybe I like when you exploit my weaknesses.”

“As I said… It is not a good idea. That means that I can now...” His hands, at that point lightly resting on her chest, tightened their hold. At the same time, he leaned in and began trailing kisses along the top of her jaw once more. She cried out in something between a moan and a whine, as her legs tightened around his hips.

_The noise she made could only be described as exquisite. He wouldn’t mind that being one of the finer things they experience often once they leave this forsaken place._

In addition, she brought out a quiet grunt from him in reaction to what she did, for she managed to rub against his growing arousal. He pulled his head back and scowled for a moment, before he decided that he needed to go further. Of their battles, this was one he desired to win, if she wished to partake.

“Byleth.” His typically deep voice sent shivers down her spine as he leaned into her ear once more, the use of her name being a rarity enough to make her almost freeze. “This… warm up. Does it not bore you?”

“Bore me…?” She already sounded slightly breathless as she loosened her legs, and stood on her own feet once more. “Oh, no… It doesn’t. I just feel that...” Her arms finally moved from near his shoulders down to the belt keeping his shirt in place, and began to take her time to unbuckle it. “Perhaps...” Jeritza scowled slightly at how slow she was taking to make her point. “There’s been too much of a focus on me up to this point.”

Much to his surprise, Byleth still had the strength to change their positions, with him against the wall instead.

“I’d like to find some of your weaknesses too.”

“I would like to see you-” Before Jeritza could continue his sentence, he felt Byleth’s hands carefully push his now loose shirt apart, before they situated themselves just below his collarbone. She gave him what could only be described as a sweet, innocent smile as her hands trailed downwards, sending slight chills through his entire body… especially in the direction her hands seemed to be moving in.

What he wasn’t expecting was for her to savour her time as her hands moved. She would lightly trace over his scars with her thumbs, and her fingers stroked against any muscle she could feel. In particular, she paid attention to one of the deeper looking scars, knowing full well that she had been the one to inflict it back in the simple days of being professors at the Officer’s Academy, in an incident where real weapons had been used instead of the training ones.

Eventually though, she reached the end of skin to follow, so all she did was look up at him with a knowing smile. “I won’t if you don’t want me to.”

“Are you assuming I would back down?”

“No, I’m just making sure. You’ve always got to be certain about these things…”

“Then go ahead. You will not find any weakness of mine-” Once more, he was cut off, this time by a chaste kiss as her fingers made quick work of the waistband of his trousers.

_He was incorrect. She had already figured out one of his weaknesses._

All that Byleth started with was a soft touch on the tip of his cock. That was all that it took to make him writhe, and let out a loud groan. As for when her hands wrapped around him… He happened to be an awful lot louder, much to his frustration.

Yet at the same time, he… _craved_ her touch. Just as her skills and form in combat had somehow managed to allure him, her soft, almost humanising touches did the same. There was something about it which was drawing him in for more.

However, there was a point where it just didn’t feel like enough, even if her tender stroking made him feel strong emotions he had not felt in such a long time.

He stopped her by taking hold of her wrists, and began to stare into her eyes. “Enough playing around,” was all he whispered as he firmly placed his hands on her hips, his only intention there being to remove the clothing barriers which were starting to annoy him. He was sure that those shorts and those lace tights were there solely for the purpose of edging him further.

Once they were out of the way though, he watched as she shivered, having to hold back a quiet laugh as she held her legs together due to the chill. Mostly because he knew she wouldn’t be stood like that for long.

After a moment, he pulled her flush against his body, before leaning down to kiss her. During this, he managed to change their position once more, and managed to rest her back against the wall yet again. Then he moved one of his hands to behind her knee and lifted it up, mimicking their position from earlier.

Byleth let out a quiet gasp when she felt his member come to rest against her wet folds, and teasingly stroke against her. Her face was flushed, and her chest rising and falling rapidly. “I… I surrender. You’ve won this fight, Jeritza...” She did her best to maintain eye contact with him, before she let out a breathy laugh. “And to the victor goes the spoils...”

“As I said earlier… This is not over yet. I do not expect things to be over...” Jeriza trailed off as he pushed into her, inducing a shaky moan from her. “For a long time.”

After a moment catching her breath, Byleth grinned at him, before resting her hands on his shoulders. “I love you.”

He remained silent for a moment, before allowing a genuine smile to creep onto his face. “And I love you too.” He then kissed her again as he helped to guide her other leg around him, making her moan into his lips as the position allowed him to push further into her.

They steadily managed to work their way into a rhythm as he thrust into her, bringing out a mixture of grunts, gasps, and whines every time their bodies came into contact. In addition to that, Jeritza had decided to return to his favourite place just under the top of Byleth’s jaw, leaving soft kisses and teasing bites along her skin. Meanwhile, Byleth’s fingers were digging into his shoulders and his back, nails leaving marks in his skin through his shirt every time he reached somewhere deep enough to elicit a scream from her.

Both of them had forgotten that less than a mere hour ago, this entire underground city was a battleground. But there was one thing they both remembered, and found pleasing – that they were desecrating this haven of their fallen enemies by giving in to the most carnal of their desires.

After a while, Byleth became aware that Jeritza’s movements were becoming sloppy and erratic, which made her close her eyes as she rested her head on his shoulders. Then, she felt his grasp of her loosen at the same time as she felt a sudden warmth. She could still feel her muscles tense and body longing for more, but she knew that he had reached his limit. She wouldn’t push for more.

There was silence for a few moments, aside from Byleth pressing a small kiss to his cheek. That was when he pulled out, and she finally caught sight of his surprisingly flushed face. He, meanwhile, looked at her before shaking his head as she removed her legs from around him and slowly sank down to sit on the floor. “I… made a mess of you.”

She shook her head, and looked up at him with a reassuring look in her eyes. “You didn’t.”

“And only I was able to-” Byleth knew straight away that he was talking about the fact that he had been able to orgasm, but she had not.

“That doesn’t matter. We’re going to be doing this again, remember? You _have_ been the one saying that this is far from over, so there’s going to be many opportunities in the future.” She began to pull her clothes and armour together, before getting dressed once more. She noticed that he had followed suit, but unlike her, his face had remained a slight tint of red. “Seeming as we are done in Shambhala, we have no reason to remain as we are, as generals in the Empire’s army...”

“And… what do we do with ourselves if we were to leave?”

“Easy. We do as we wish. With Edelgard in charge of Fódlan, the current nobility system will be no more. I will remain a commoner as I always have been, and you can start with a clean slate without any titles or pressures. We can simply be two wandering souls, doing as we wish, when we wish. The only rules we follow are the laws of the land. I, for one, wouldn’t mind returning to the simpler days of being a mercenary...”

Jeritza looked at her for a moment, taking in the confidence and genuineness of her short speech. As he fixed his last piece of armour, he nodded, feeling an overwhelming sense of comfort. He liked the idea of just being _free_ that she was proposing. So much so, that he reached out for her hand and nodded.

Once they were ready, they made their way out of the now silent Shambhala, only then taking in the extent of the bloodshed they had caused. But… they didn’t really mind. They – Byleth in particular – would no longer be plagued by the existence of the Agarthans.

When they emerged into the daylight of the surface world, neither of them had been expecting to hear a loud shout, before ending up in a tight embrace.

“I am so relieved that both of you are safe! When I heard that you both had disappeared with the intention of coming here, I was worried sick!” The person then took a step back, their eyes welling with tears. “Professor… Emile… Don’t be so reckless again!”

“M- Mercedes...” Jeritza was stunned that his sister was there, waiting for them to return. He also felt a slight sense of shame – they had been having sex, surrounded by their fallen enemies, whilst Mercedes had been up here, hoping that they were alive. Yet at the same time, he had no regrets in the slightest.

Byleth carefully let go of his hand, before smiling at Mercedes. “We won’t. Though I have to say that your brother saved my life more times than I can count… If anyone was reckless, it was me.”

Mercedes sighed, shook her head, before laughing quietly. “If you say so…” She then gave both of them a quick smile, before turning around, and taking a few steps. “Is, um… Everyone down there…?”

“Dead.”

“Right… I’ll let Edelgard know… She already figured out that the two of you would be unlikely to return once you were done here, which is why she asked me to meet you both before you leave...” Then, Mercedes took a deep breath and turned to face them again. “No matter where your path takes you, please look after each other… No matter where you go, please keep in contact… Especially if I’m ever to become an aunt!”

“ _Mercedes!”_ Jeritza was now wide-eyed and panicked, whilst Byleth’s mouth was left agape. “What makes you think that-?!”

“You left a few marks behind on the Professor’s throat, Emile… It’s actually quite hard not to notice them.”

They were left in a stunned silence as Byleth’s hand slowly moved up to her neck, and pressed against the somewhat tender skin. That was followed by Jeritza sighing, and shaking his head. By that point, Mercedes had left, and the pair were left alone.

“What… do we do now, Byleth?”

Her hand pulled away from her neck, before she smiled. “From what I’ve heard, there’s a new king in Almyra. Could be interesting to see what goes on there with the new leadership, as the people are quite keen fighters. Maybe I can pull a few strings to arrange a duel with him.”

Jeritza raised an eyebrow, knowing full well who Byleth was talking about, before nodding with a smirk on his face. “I see no reason as to why not.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did originally intend for the ending to be the two bumping into Hubert as they left Shambhala and him just getting mad that they didn't tell Edelgard before they carried out a massacre, just for him to notice Byleth's neck and asks wtf they were doing down there
> 
> But just before I wrote it I thought "nahhh, need some Soft(tm) family moments with Mercie before they go do their own thing"


End file.
